Sheffield Wednesday vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City at Hillsborough on Tuesday night | Michael Ihiekwe and Michael Smith seal a comeback point for Owls and boost their survival hopes.
Tuesday 9 April 2024 23:32, UK
Sheffield Wednesday battled back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw with Norwich and strengthen their Sky Bet Championship survival bid.
Wednesday handed Norwich the initiative straight away and the visitors established a two-goal lead early on through Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz but the home side had James Beadle to thank for keeping the deficit at two heading into the break.
Wednesday looked more confident in the second period and Norwich were made to pay for their flurry of missed chances in the second half as two headers from Michael Ihiekwe and Michael Smith rescued an unlikely point.
Norwich were almost gifted the opening goal of the game when Marcelino Nunez latched onto to some sloppy possession at the back and took a shot but Beadle did well to parry the ball out to Ashley Barnes, who blasted wide on the rebound.
Wednesday had the warning a couple of moments ago but Norwich scored the first in the 10th minute as Sam McCallum's throw-in was flicked on by Barnes and Sargent tapped in at the back post.
The Canaries were all over the hosts and almost doubled their lead straight away as Sainz ran through on goal and unleashed a low drive into the corner but Beadle was on hand to tip behind again.
Wednesday were making the same mistakes at the back and Norwich did not let them off the hook this time - as the home side tried to play out of the back, Nunez was gifted the ball and he fed through Sainz, who stroked home to make it 2-0.
Creators of their downfall yet again, Wednesday nearly handed Norwich a third as Sainz teed up Nunez, who sliced just wide of the post.
The Owls were lucky to be trailing by two at the break as McCallum sprung down the left and whipped a ball in, Nunez smashed over the crossbar to keep Wednesday alive, just.
The hosts made four substitutions at the break and started the second period with a little more life but the Canaries seemed keen for a third though, Jack Stacey raced beyond the back line who were expecting an offside flag that never went up, but Beadle denied Stacey to keep them in the contest.
Another couple of chances came and went for Norwich after Sainz was brought down outside the box, Nunez's resulting free-kick was palmed away by Beadle and Gabriel Sara scuffed an effort wide a couple of moments later.
Wednesday's best chance of the match came after Callum Paterson chased down a long ball and found himself one-on-one but could not guide his effort past Angus Gunn.
The visitors failed to put Wednesday away and they had their route back into the match after Ihiekwe nodded home from Will Vauks' corner.
Wednesday piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser no one saw coming and they had one from yet another corner, this time Vaulks picked out Smith at the back post, who headed in to leave them in the relegation zone on goal difference.
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"We showed again our togetherness. Not many people thought we would come back and take something but we did.
"Second half we played better, the stadium was behind us and created energy and this showed what we need in our situation.
"Today we take the point and now we have to go again Saturday. If we are over the line on the last matchday everyone will take it.
"We keep coming back and today we came back from 2-0 down, today we showed we can do this against a strong Norwich side.
"I'm happy with the point. Not happy with the first half but one key point."
Norwich's David Wagner:
"We have done everything super well, we looked sharp in ball possession and out of ball possession but we didn't kill the game.
"We were not ruthless inside the opponent's box, we had a lot of clear-cut chances and obviously this at the end of the day has shown why we have not won the game.
"Today we have put the hard work in to collect three points but haven't done because we could not kill the game. Especially when a team is so direct with set-pieces something can happen.
"We have not made use of our chances, this is what frustrates us and the performance the players have shown on the pitch, the commitment is good.
"I would have liked to have six points (from Ipswich and Sheff Wed) after you have seen the two performances.
"But in football, you don't always get what you wish, you get what you earn and today we only got one because we weren't ruthless.
"We have to be more ruthless, this is what hurts. How we played, how we defended was good."
